dirkjake but like,,,,strangers next to each other on an airplane? meetcute lmao

“So what brings you to Japan?” you ask him, once the two of you are settled in your seats and your post-takeoff knuckles are starting to flush back to their natural color. “Y'know, in, like, 13 hours.”

He laughs. It’s bright, charming.

“Old friends,” he says.

“Old,” you echo. “You look too good to have ‘old’ anything. Japanese beauty products must really be worth their salt.”

He laughs again. It’s open-mouthed, a little too loud, accented with a smile.

His lips look soft from the chapstick he put on right before the two of you took off. Gets awful dry up there, he had told you, then, popping his lips at you. You hadn’t responded. You were too deep in social cue hell. Was that intentional? Do straight guys even wear chapstick?

“You?” he asks, now.

“Me?” you say.

“What are you waltzing off to Japan for,” he clarifies.

You gaze back at him. Tilt your head until it bumps against the seat. “Nothing in particular,” you say. “Just somethin’ different. You sound like you’ve got the lay of the sunrise land—any suggestions?”